It is important to have a proper perspective on life if one is to succeed at reaching the Goal of life, which is Moksha or Enlightenment. To accomplish this Goal of life, one must become established at the level of consciousness that never changes. This is the Absolute level of consciousness. It is beyond the celestial realm of this universe. It is even beyond the entire universe. The Absolute is the source of our universe of ever-changing values. This level of consciousness is Ritam-bhara Pragya

We can also call this state of consciousness Krishna Consciousness because at the level, everything we know is Truth, Absolute, and Krishna is the personification of the Absolute, Eternal Being that is the source, course and goal of all life. Krishna Consciousness is the 8th State of Consciousness - these states of consciousness are:

deep sleep - no awareness

dreaming - awareness of one's own thoughts in a surrealistic state with distorted, pseudo-sensory perceptions that resemble waking state awareness, but without actual awareness of the physical surroundings by way of the four physical senses: sight, taste, smell, and hearing. In dreaming, one does have awareness through the non-physical sense of "feeling" which is often mistaken for a non-existent physical sense called "touch".

waking - awareness of one's own thoughts as thoughts, and awareness of the physical surroundings by way of the four physical senses and the one non-physical sense of feeling.

Turiya - not really a "state" of consciousness, but rather the foundation of all states of consciousness. Turiya is not deep sleep, not dreaming, and not waking. Transcendental consciousness can only be described in terms of what it is not, because this is the experience. It is literally awareness of Pure Consciousness, or the Absolute. It is impossible to convey the knowledge of Turiya in common words and expressions because it is an experience that is beyond words. Our language, especially the English language, is a waking state derived structure. Because Turiya is beyond waking state, the terms and language of waking state cannot effectively be used to convey an accurate meaning of it. However, the experience of Turiya s is easily available to anyone who can think a thought by way of a specific mental technique.

Cosmic - a dual state of consciousness that is experienced as constant, 24 hour awareness of Turiya along with the deep sleep, dreaming, and waking states of consciousness. In cosmic consciousness there is never a moment in which the awareness of Turiya is not found. Cosmic consciousness can be "earned" by an individual through dedicated practice of the mental technique for experiencing Turiya. This is Moksha, the Goal of human existence.

God - awareness of the celestial (non-physical) realms of the universe. In this awareness, it is possible to conduct controlled direct two-way communication with individual members of the vast hosts of non-physical beings that populate our universe. This privilege of awareness and communication extends from the lowest astral plane to highest celestial realms of our universe. God Consciousness cannot be "earned" by any practice or technique - it is a gift from the Creator of our Universe, Lord Brahma, and freely available to all who ask for it.

Unity or Brahman - this state of consciousness arises out of God Consciousness and appears to be two states of consciousness, but in fact it is a single state of consciousness that is like the two faces of a coin. On one face, Unity, the awareness is unity with the supreme level of silent, pure being consciousness known as Shiva. On the opposite face, Brahman, the awareness is unity with the Creator of our Universe, Lord Brahma. The width of this "coin" is infinitely thin so it is possible to experience either "face" at any moment. However, it is impossible to live in the physical world for very long (perhaps not more than a few moments) while experiencing Unity. Therefore we choose to live in Brahman Consciousness so we can be of service to mankind in the physical.

Krishna Consciousness - Krishna and all of the Gopis and Gopas in Goloka are the real entities. All other entities, are illusory projections of Krishna. There is only one real universe - Goloka. All other universes, including this one that we inhabit now are illusory projections of Goloka. You will enjoy the study of Reality and coming to know the Reaity, for this is the true foundation of our existence. It is here that true Bhakti Yoga is attained, as a gift from Krishna. One identifies with the Gopa or Gopi that is the progenitor of this life on Earth and enjoys existence as an eternal companion of Krishna.

Maharishi

"there is a level of consciousness which does not change - Ritam-bhara Pragya. We can verify that state of consciousness from our own experience. I would like you to recall if at any time in your meditation, any time even for a moment, you had some experience 'I know everything' - even a faint glimpse of such a feeling 'I know everything'.

It is that level of awareness - when the mantra is very, very fine, absolutely very refined, somewhere in that region, there is that level of consciousness where truth dawns. Ritam-bhara means that intellect which accepts only the truth.

It is possible that our conscious mind becomes very familiar with that particular level of awareness so that our mind could stay there. And if the mind could stay there, the mind has only to think the word and all that the word is for all its tendencies, it will just show up as on a television screen. ...

That Ritam-bhara Pragya is that state of intellect, which conceives or perceives things as they are. In that state of celestial experience, if Krishna comes, then he is real Krishna. If Shiva comes, he is real Shiva. If Divine Mother comes, she is real Divine Mother. There is no mental hallucination, there is no other than the real form in that perception."

Maharishi, Humboldt University, 1971

How does one achieve this state of Ritam-bhara Pragya? One must develop all of the subtle bodies to full awakening and function. We have a total of 5 bodies in the relative universe and 5 more in the Absolute realm. The subtle bodies in the relative universe must be purified and developed, then one can experience the already perfectly functioning bodies in the Absolute realm.

In this relative universe, our bodies consist of:

Anamaya Kosha - the body of food or the physical body

Pranamaya Kosha - the energy body, made of prana

Manomaya Kosha - the body that is connected to the lower Celestial realm.

Vijñanamaya Kosha - the body that is connected to the higer Celestial realm.

Anandamaya Kosha - the entire universe, the body of Bliss that we all share.

In the Absolute realm we have these bodies:

Goloka is the realm of the Ana-Kosha of Krishna and His Gopis and Gopas, within the Absolute. This corresponds to the physical world of the universe where all of the Anamaya-koshas exist.

Svarupa-Shakti is the Prana-Kosha of the Absolute. This corresponds to the Pranamaya-kosha of the universe, but there is no astral world – that is a feature of the universe that arises from the decay of physical life.

Madhurya-dhama is the Mano-Kosha of the Absolute where Cit-Jagat exists, corresponding to the Manomaya-kosha of the universe.

Aisvarya-dhama is the Vijñana-Kosha of the Absolute where all of the Divine Expansions of Krishna reside in Vaikuntha-Lokas, corresponding to the Vijñanamaya-kosha of the universe.

Kailasa is the Ananda-Kosha of the Absolute – the Body of Bliss that is the subtlest aspect of the Absolute and corresponds to the Anandamaya-Kosha this is the subtlest aspect of every universe. Notice the word “maya” is missing from this Absolute Body, which is not illusory like Anandamaya-kosha.

The fundamental practice for experiencing Ritam-bhara Pragya is Atmavedi Meditation[1] which is a simple, natural form of meditation that allows the individual to personally experience the entire range of this universe and serves as a platform for even going beyond this universe into the Absolute. This is the core practice for establishing Moksha - freedom from the cycles of birth and death - the ultimate goal of human life.

The essential nature of life is Bliss. We capitalize the word because this Bliss is the fundamental quality of the Divine, and we all have the experience of this Bliss as our birthright. Recall that we have five bodies: anamaya kosha, pranamaya kosha, manomaya kosha, vijñamaya kosha and Anandamaya Kosha. Here again we capitalize because this is our Divine body. Yes, we all share a single body of Bliss, which is the entire universe.

The practice of Atmavedi Meditation develops all of our bodies and brings them into our conscious awareness, including the Divine body, Anandamaya Kosha. This is the consciousness of our Creator, Lord Brahma and is directly supported by Lord Narayana, an expansion of Krishna. In Satya yuga, everyone has conscious access to all of their subtle bodies, including Anandamaya Kosha. But in Kali yuga, this ability has been lost.

Atmavedi Meditation is the catalyst that enlivens Kundalini. Kundalini is the Divine aspect that promotes development of every life form from one stage to another. In human beings, Kundalini takes the sperm and ovum from a single cell to a multi-cell embryo, then Kundalini guides the development of the embryo into a baby, then from baby to child, to adult. At this stage, Kundalini rests unless or until the individual is practicing Atmavedi Meditation. Then Kundalini continues the development of the individual by enlivening and connecting each subtle body to conscious awareness, culminating in Moksha.

To the practice of Atmavedi Meditation we add Samyama and initially Samyama on the Esoteric MahaMantra. Samyama is the practice given to us by Maharishi Patanjali, consisting of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. Dharana is the practice of Atmavedi Meditation, Dhyana is the sense of "knowing" that follows the thinking of a thought, and Samadhi is the simplest form of awareness that one can experience, which is ultimately the awareness of the Anandamaya Kosha or the entire universe as one's own self.

This is fundamental training for Ritam-bhara Pragya. Lord Brahma created the entire universe with only His Mind, through the practice of Samyama on the 432,000 sylables of the Rig Veda. Lord Brahma is the example in this universe of perfection of human evolution, with the ability to create an entire universe from His mind.

If you are interested in experiencing Ritam-bhara Pragya, here are the steps you should take:

Learn to practice Atmavedi Meditation, or if you already practice Transcendental Meditation®, you have accomplished this step.

[1] In practice, Atmavedi Meditation is very similar to Transcendental Meditation® (service marks of the Maharishi Foundation, Ltd, registered in the USA. The official website is www.tm.org) and derived from this form of meditation.